Ends of the Line
by enthusiasmgirl
Summary: Five universe where Matt and Foggy's friendship couldn't withstand his life as Daredevil. And one universe where it has.
1. A Chance at a Normal Life

**_So this is based on the following prompt at the Daredevil Kink Meme: "5 universes where Matt and Foggy stopped being friends and one where they didn't. Give me anything from they drifted apart or they stopped being friends because they got together and were avocados in love(I have a soft spot for Matt/Foggy), or like super super angsty we can't be friends anymore." I chose super-angsty, because I like to make my readers cry, apparently. Although, I did just come off of writing a whole lot of humour and fluff, so I guess I'm due._**

Matt knew that something was going on. Foggy had been lying to him, of that much he was certain. He'd noticed that the man had been getting more texts in the office, and having fewer personal phone conversations. He'd been nervous, his heartbeat skipping beats from time to time, his palms sweaty and his legs twitching as he sat. Foggy was keeping something from him, had been for about a month. Something important, Matt knew. But he never expected this.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked Foggy, who was sitting across from him with anxiety cascading off of him in waves.

"Sam's pregnant," Foggy said. "She's due in about five months."

"Oh wow!" Matt said, a smile creeping across his face and turning into a grin as what his friend said really hit him. "That's... I mean, you've seeing each other for a while now, right? That's great!" He leaped up to embrace his friend in a big hug, before pulling back when he sensed that something was still wrong.

"This is a good thing, right?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, it really is," Foggy said. Matt could tell that he meant it, but there were tears starting to pool at the corner of Foggy's eyes and even without sight Matt could tell that Foggy didn't want to look at him. "I'm going to be a dad, Matt."

"Yeah," Matt said, still not quite able to believe it. "It's scary, I know. But you are going to make a great father. And your kid is gonna have a pretty protective uncle, so they'll be fine."

"Don't..." Foggy said, his voice choking up, "You don't understand, Matt. I'm not scared. I'm really happy, and really excited. But you can't..." Foggy was now so upset that he couldn't even finish his thought. Something inside of Matt started to panic, and he felt a creeping fear sinking into the pit of his stomach.

"You can't be a part of this, Matt," Foggy finally said.

"What?" Matt asked, the fear exploding into an ache.

"You can't..." Foggy continued, sobs interrupting the flow of his words, "I have to think about another person now, you know? Two other people. The world is such a shitty place already, this neighborhood's not the best to raise a family, and what you do? I admire it, honestly. I get it. But it's terrifying, and violent, and it can only end badly. And I can make the choice to be a part of it, but I can't make that choice for Sam, for my kid. I need you to understand that."

"So what are you saying, then?" Matt asked, getting angry. "Are you giving me an ultimatum, Foggy? Is that what this is? Daredevil or you?"

"No!" Foggy said, "I'm not. Because I know... we both know what choice you would make. Even if you tell me it's me, there's no way that I would ever believe you. You are Daredevil, Matt. What you do is built into who you are."

"So?" Matt asked, "What, then, Foggy? What the hell do you want me to do?"

"Nothing," said Foggy. "There's nothing you can do. Nothing I can do. It just is what it is. I've been thinking about this for a long time now, ever since Sam told me the news a month ago. I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with some solution that doesn't make me feel like I'm compromising my family's safety or cutting you out of my life, Matt, but there isn't one. Do you think this is easy for me? God, Matt! I love you. So much. But I have to do the right thing here. And I need you to let me."

"The right thing?" Matt asked, bitterly.

Foggy sighed and took a deep breath before finally taking Matt's hand and looking up at him. "Sam is moving in with her parents in New Jersey. And I'm going with her. They have a house on a quiet street, with a big backyard and they've told us we're welcome to stay as long as we need to. It's a good opportunity for us. It gives me time to shift my focus away from criminal law to something less dangerous and try and find another firm who'll have me. It's the best thing for us right now."

"And the practice?" Matt asked.

"It's not like you can't keep going," Foggy said. "You're a good lawyer, Matt. You'll be fine."

"No," said Matt. "I won't be."

"I'm sorry," said Foggy, but Matt got up and left the room abruptly before he could finish. "Matt..." Foggy called out, but it didn't matter. Matt knew deep down that it was his own fault. He should known it would end like this. Everybody left eventually.


	2. Interrogation

"Mr. Nelson," said the detective, "I'm sure I don't have to tell you how serious this is. We've already indicted your partner on charges of perjury, fraud, conspiracy to commit murder and evidence tampering. And I have no doubt that he will be convicted. That's 10-15 years in federal prison." The harsh fluorescence that lit the interrogation room buzzed loudly, grating on Foggy's nerves as the detective and other police officer and prosecutor in the room stared him down.

"As a lawyer, I'm familiar with the charges against my partner, Detective Docherty," Foggy said.

"Former lawyer," the detective interrupted.

Foggy gritted his teeth and held back from saying something that would only get him into more trouble. "If you think that I'm going to help you to put Matt away you're out of your mind!"

"That's what we thought you would say," the detective said. "Because you're Nelson and Murdock, right? I'm sure in the eyes of a jury it will be pretty obvious that your partnership didn't just extend to your practice. They won't be very sympathetic to two lawyers who defended murderers and criminals who are now being set free due to their own arrogance and desire to see vigilante justice take precedence over the law."

"I was never Daredevil," said Foggy. "That was Matt's choice, not mine."

"Maybe you didn't put on a red suit and play vigilante like your partner," said the detective, "but you aided and abetted, Mr. Nelson. You stood by while he took his cases and your own into his own hands, while he intimidated witnesses, made evidence inadmissible, perjured himself and misrepresented his own involvement in criminal investigations at every possible opportunity. You're responsible for that, Mr. Nelson. And if you won't help me, I intend to make you pay for it."

"Detective," interrupted the petite woman sitting next to Foggy, his lawyer. "We have been cooperating with you as best as we can, but unless you intend to actually charge my client with a crime, get to the point."

The detective threw a folder onto the table. "This is my point."

Foggy took it hesitantly and opened it, his heart sinking at the photo inside. It was a photo of he and Matt in the Daredevil suit standing over the body of one of their former clients, Nicholas Cappoletto. The client who had been murdered after Daredevil had interrogated his boss about criminal activity related to their union corruption case and accidentally exposed him identity as a whistleblower. Foggy picked the photo up and began rifling through the other contents in the folder. His signatures on key documents in Matt's fraud case. A cassette tape labelled "Nelson-Marquez 06/02/16". A transcript of text messages between he and Matt pulled from Matt's cell phone that clearly implicated him in Matt's activities as Daredevil. He started to cry as he realized the implications.

He felt his lawyer put her hand on his shoulder in consolation.

"I'm not the bad guy here, Mr. Nelson," said the detective. "I'm on your side. I know that you didn't mean to get so involved in all this, and you've already lost your business, been disbarred, and maybe you're thinking that your friendship with Mr. Murdock is all you've got left. But he's going to prison. Don't let him take you down with him."

The prosecutor stepped forward. "We're willing to dismiss all future charges against Mr. Nelson in exchange for his testimony against Mr. Murdock."

Foggy's lawyer put her arm on his shoulder gently as he started to sob and nodded slowly. What choice did he have?


	3. The Funeral

They were alone. The funeral was over, and the crowd of people hovering around the open grave site had dispersed.

Tentatively, Matt made his way over to where his friend stood, silently sobbing and shaking. He put a hand out to touch Foggy's shoulder and comfort him, but Foggy recoiled like he'd been struck.

"Don't you dare touch me!" Foggy said coldly. "You stay the hell away from me."

"Foggy..." Matt said, his voice trembling. "I loved her too, you know."

"Did you?" Foggy said bitterly. "Because I don't think you did. I think you used her, like you use everyone, for your own ends. She worshiped you, you know. Respected you. Wanted you, even. And I don't think you even ever really considered her aside from what she could do for you."

"That is not true," Matt said, but he was interrupted by his former friend's fury as he was shoved violently backwards and fell into the grass in an undignified heap.

"I told you!" Foggy screamed in his direction, tears streaming down his face. "I TOLD YOU! I said that this would end badly for everyone, including us, but you never listen. Because you needed redemption. You needed to make yourself feel better about your shitty life. You couldn't stop listening to the sirens. And now, once again, someone else had to pay for your decisions, never you. Karen had to pay, Matt. She's gone," Foggy sobbed, "and it's your fault. And you are going to have to live with that for the rest of your life. Without me. Because I'm done." Foggy stormed away towards the street, and Matt knew in his heart that it was really over. He was alone.


	4. When You're Cooked

_**This is based on an actual conversation that happened between Nick Fury and Matt in the comics following the public reveal that he was Daredevil. Obviously, in that version things went differently.**_

Matt cowered. That was the only word for what he was doing, cowering, trying desperately to find anywhere in the universe where he could hide from the determined mob of reporters, angry citizens and police officers currently camped out in front of the office desperately seeking a statement from him, answers, the truth. He didn't know what to do. He felt cornered, trapped. His heart was thumping wildly in his chest as he considered how completely and totally over his life was the moment he left the building.

He had listened, earlier, as Foggy gave a vague and noncommittal statement to the press on the steps outside. He told them that the accusations were being made without any proof and that he stood by his friend and partner. Once the statement was made, he had been ushered into a taxi and left to go home, where Matt was certain a mob was also waiting for him. He supposed that Foggy's life was over now too.

"Blind Lawyer Matt Murdock is Daredevil", the New York Post headline had said. Matt couldn't even read the article for himself. He'd had to hear it summarized on the news. What was he going to do?

"You know, we have a saying," a voice said to his left, and it shocked him that he hadn't noticed the person in the room with him earlier. His senses were all over the place, swinging wildly between being oversensitive and non-existent with the stress of the moment. But how had this person gotten in?

"When an agent has their cover blown, we say they're cooked," said the voice. It was male, and deep.

"Who are you?" asked Matt. "How did you get in here?"

"A friend," said the man. "At a time when you don't seem to have a whole lot of them. The name's Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I'm not an agent," said Matt, beginning to catch on to why the man was in his office and how he'd somehow gotten past the crowd out front.

"The principle still applies," said Fury. "And you could be. You're cooked, Mr. Murdock. I've seen footage of you in action. You'd be an asset to the organization."

"Not interested," said Matt.

"You sure about that, son?" said Fury, with genuine concern, and something in Matt's heart tugged at the affection he heard. "What do you think is going to happen now that your identity is public knowledge? Not only is your business, your partnership with Mr. Nelson, almost certainly over, but as a lawyer I'm sure you know that you'll be facing disbarment and a possible criminal investigation. Teams of law enforcement officials are probably already getting ready to go over every case you've ever argued with a fine tooth comb looking for any hint of a potential appeal. And that's disregarding the fact that every villain who you ever pissed off now knows exactly where to go, who to hurt, to get to you. Seems to me like you should be very interested in what I'm offering you."

"And what is that?" Matt asked, "A job?"

"No," said Fury, "An escape. You agree to work for us, and we can make all of this go away. I can make a phone call and within an hour every news outlet in the country will be retracting this story or ignoring it in a way that will make you piss your pants in terror at exactly how effective and efficient government can be when it actually wants to get something done. There will be no investigations. No prolonged media coverage. Nobody will know your name. Nobody will be able to connect you to Daredevil. And even if they could, you'd be long gone anyway."

"And Foggy?" Matt asked. "I can't just leave him, and he'd never stop looking for me if I disappeared."

"You'd be surprised at what you can do to protect the people you love," said Fury. "If you stay, you risk dragging him into this too. If you come with me, We'd keep an agent on him for awhile. Make sure he's safe and secure. And we'd intervene into any potential investigation or questions about his association with you or your actions as Daredevil."

"I..." said Matt, his chest heaving with the panic attack he was experiencing as he considered how few options he had in this situation. "I can't just..."

Fury handed him a phone. A burner. "Call him," he said. "Say goodbye. Tell him not to come looking for you."

Matt could only sob and nod as he began to dial.


	5. The Devil

Matt could feel the crunch of breaking bones and squish of burst blood vessels under his fists as they flew at the prone figure in front of him quickly and without mercy. "Please," the man had begged, "I have a family." But Matt couldn't stop. He could never stop. The rage had overtaken him. The devil had been let loose and Matt refused to fight it anymore.

A man had grabbed him from behind, and he'd slammed the unknown assailant's head into the brick wall efficiently, something inside him humming with joy as he heard the solid thunk of skull hitting stone and sensed the brain matter oozing out.

As more men came at him, he took them all on with deadly precision and manic glee, reveling in how quickly they fell and how powerful it made him feel. It was only when they were all dead at his feet and he had a moment to reflect that he suddenly came back to himself and realized what he had done.

Someone touched his arm and without thinking he heaved the person up by their neck, choking the life out of them and listening to them gurgle. "M...att... ple...please," he heard the voice say and the tone reverberated in his subconscious, finally truly snapping him out of his rage.

"Foggy?" he asked, and he threw the man down onto the pavement. He landed in a pool of blood, half on top of a body.

Foggy held his neck, feeling the bruises forming, and looked up at the man who he had thought was his friend, then around at the carnage underneath him.

"Foggy, I-" Matt said, and Foggy wasn't sure if the look on the man's face was one of heartbreak because he just realized what he had done, or if it was confusion at why Foggy was there. He only knew that he didn't want to find out. He never wanted to find out. So he ran. And the devil let him.


	6. Comfort

Matt gasped as he woke up, his senses all flooding in to piece together where he was and what had happened. He was in a bed. His bed. He could feel the silk sheets and down duvet underneath him. He was also in a lot of pain. He could feel the bruises and cuts covering his body, and every muscle ached. He could barely breath and only groaned when his body wouldn't allow him to sit up or even roll over.

Someone was in the room with him, because they were gently stroking his hair trying to convince him to put his head back down onto the pillow. "Who?" Matt asked, his mouth dry.

"It's just me, Matt. It's Foggy."

Normally, Matt would be comforted by the touch and voice of his friend, but the intense nightmares he'd woken from had him finding it difficult to separate the new reality he was in from them. He cried softly. "It hurts," he said to Foggy.

"You're just disoriented, Matt," Foggy said. "From the drugs Claire gave you. Do you remember? To help you sleep through the pain?"

"No," said Matt. "I can't... please. Go away," Matt said desperately.

"I'm not going anywhere," Foggy said. "I'm here for you, man."

"I can't lose you, Foggy," Matt pleaded, desperate.

"You won't, Matt. You won't. I promise," Foggy said.

"You can't promise that," Matt said.

"I can too," Foggy said.

"I'm not... You can't stay," Matt said. Foggy finally realized that maybe his friend wasn't fully lucid. What had he been dreaming about?

"Why do I have to go?" Foggy asked.

"Because you'll have to. You'll have a family someday. You won't need me anymore," Matt said.

"I'll always need you, Matt. And my kids will need you too. You'll be their cool Uncle Matt," Foggy said, amused.

"But you could go to jail, Foggy. You could lose everything. Because of me. I can't..." Matt said.

"I knew the consequences of sticking with you when I found out about Daredevil, Matt," Foggy said. "I made a choice to stay, remember. If I go to jail, at least I'll have you to protect me while I'm doing my time. I could be your bitch," he joked. "Somehow I don't think anyone would want to mess with you."

"You could die. Karen could die. I could get you both killed," Matt said, distressed.

"And you could die and leave me alone. That's actually the more likely scenario given what you do and that you're currently laying here barely alive," Foggy said sadly.

"I could... I could have to go. People could find out about Daredevil," Matt said.

"They could. And we would deal with it. Together," Foggy said. "I wouldn't let you leave even if you tried to."

"Foggy..." Matt said, "You were right. I am a murderer. I'm a criminal. You have to go. I have to go. We can't do this." He thrashed in the bed, trying to sit up but barely awake or making sense, panicking. Foggy pushed him gently back down and kept his hand firmly on his chest to keep him there.

"Matt, I want you to listen to me," Foggy said. "There is nothing in the universe, no circumstance or situation that you can ever find yourself in where I will not forgive you, be there for you and be your friend. We are in this together. Nelson and Murdock, remember? Don't you ever forget that. Do you hear me?"

Matt nodded, his breathing evening out.

"I love you," Foggy said. "And you mean everything to me, you idiot. I'm not going anywhere. Now go back to sleep and let the drugs do their job so that Claire doesn't yell at me when you pop your stitches again."

As Matt lay there and listened to his friend grumble, he knew that despite the man's kind words, someday one of his dreams would become a reality. He knew, deep down, that all he could was appreciate and soak in Foggy's presence while he had it in his life and create memories that would give him solace once he was gone. It was that thought that comforted him as he let himself drift back into a drug-induced, but thankfully now dreamless, sleep.


End file.
